Glitching

Elijah stared at the screen in confusion. The green text blinked against the black background as the automated female voice read the words to him a second time.

“Please reset your password.”

Elijah glanced around. The train station was nearly empty at this time of night, and the few people here were minding their own business, either rushing to get home before curfew or digging out exemption papers on their way to a night shift.

Turning back to the ticket kiosk, Elijah pressed his thumb to the scanner again. It must be a glitch. He had changed his password to his digital ID account less than a month ago. He shouldn't have to change it again for at least two months.

The text on the screen turned yellow, the words remaining the same. The automated voice spoke again. “Please reset your password.”

Cursing under his breath, Elijah grabbed his backpack and headed for the exit. He wasn't going to stand around here arguing with a machine. He would walk home. He knew how to avoid the curfew patrols.

He left by a different exit than he had come in by. The security guards in the booth at each door were watching the doors, not the cameras, so they should assume he had just come in on a train and lived near the station.

One of the guards stepped out of the booth as Elijah approached the exit. Elijah stifled a laugh. She was five-foot-nothing, probably 85 pounds soaking wet, and she didn't have a gun. Some security guard. The city really was devoted to their diversity hires.

“Curfew is in twenty minutes,” the guard warned.

Elijah waved one hand in acknowledgement as he passed her. It would take him thirty minutes to get home, but she didn't need to know that.

Outside, he strolled down a couple blocks, then ducked into an alley. Every inch of the main street was covered by cameras, but not the alleys. No one cared what happened in the alleys.

He made it to his apartment building without even seeing a curfew patrol. He climbed the stairs to the third floor and jogged along the balcony to stop in front of his door. He reached for the thumbprint scanner, then paused. He didn't need the computer telling him again to change his password while also announcing to his neighbours that he had only just arrived home. Instead he pulled a key out of his pocket and used it to open the door, immensely grateful that his roommate had insisted on keeping an analogue lock in place even when the electronic locks were brought in.

The light was on in the living room, which was strange. Elijah's roommate, Jared, worked an early morning shift at his job, and was usually in bed long before curfew. Elijah crossed the kitchen, not taking care to be quiet. The front door wasn't quiet, so whoever was in the living room already knew he was here.

Elijah saw Jared first. Jared saw him at the same time and tilted his head slightly toward the other side of the living room. Elijah nodded.

Two men and a woman sat on the couch across the room from Jared. They were dressed casually, not in the uniforms Elijah had half expected. They all stood when Elijah entered the room.

“Elijah Calling?”the woman asked.

“Yes…” They were in his house, there was no point in being vague about his identity.

The woman extended her hand. “Norma Parson.”

Elijah put his hands in his jacket pockets. “Why are you here?”

Norma lowered her hand. “We noticed a glitch in your account, and we wanted to ask you about it.”

“What kind of glitch?”

“That’s what we wanted to ask. Have you noticed anything strange about your account today?”

“I haven’t noticed anything that concerns you,” Elijah said. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“We’ve been watching you,” Norma said. She glanced at Jared. “Both of you. We think you might be an asset to our organisation.”

“What organisation?” Jared asked.

“Before I answer that, I want Elijah to explain how he caused the glitch in his account.”

Elijah burst out laughing. “You think I did that? And who are you that you can see the details of my account?”

“If you didn’t, then who did?”

“Computer programs glitch all the time,” Jared said. “What organisation?”

Elijah shook his head. “Look, if you’re not going to tell us who you are, you can leave.”

Norma glanced at her companions. One of them nodded.

“Fine.” Norma turned back to Elijah and Jared. “We’re part of a group that can go in and change people’s score if it’s too low to allow them to do what they want or need to do.”

“You’re hackers,” Elijah said.

“Well, yes, essentially,” Norma admitted.

“And you think I hacked my own account. Why would I do that? All it did was make me fifteen minutes late getting home, because I couldn’t buy a train ticket.”

Norma hesitated, looking uncertain for the first time.

Elijah sighed. “I won’t tell anyone about you,” he said. “I do think the country needs people like you. But I don’t want any part of this.” He pointed toward the front door. “Please get out of my house.”

“But–” Norma’s eyes flickered to Jared and back to Elijah. She sighed. “Fine. Get in touch with us if you change your mind.”

Elijah shook his head. He stepped back so Norma and her companions could pass him on their way to the door.

It wasn’t until after they left that Norma’s last words fully registered. Elijah frowned, turning to Jared. “So she says get in touch, but doesn’t leave any way of doing so?”

“I know how,” Jared said.

Elijah frowned. “How?”

“I’ve worked with them a few times.”

At Elijah’s incredulous look, Jared raised his hands defensively. “I’ve never touched your account! I promise. I don’t know why they came here.”

“Then why did you keep asking for the name of their… organisation?”

Jared shrugged, a little sheepishly. “Because I was hoping she would tell you more about it.” He paused. “What is up with your account?”

“Probably nothing. It’s just asking me to change my password after less than a month.”

Jared frowned. “Do you think someone else hacked it?”

“Maybe. But why bother? My ID isn’t going to give anyone else any bonuses.” Elijah shrugged. “Or it’s just a glitch. Like you said, this stuff glitches all the time. Whatever. I’m going to go change my password and go to bed.”

Elijah walked into his room. His laptop was on, yellow text blinking against a black background.

Please reset your password.